Blog

This past weekend, our Auto Group team came together for an unforgettable day on the slopes at Gore Mountain for our 5th Annual Ski Trip! This annual tradition has become a highly anticipated event, giving employees the chance to embrace the winter season, connect with coworkers, and enjoy a well-deserved day of fun and adventure. From seasoned skiers to first-timers, everyone had a blast exploring the mountain’s diverse trails, soaking in the breathtaking views, and experiencing the thrill of the downhill runs. The crisp mountain air and fresh powder made for perfect skiing and snowboarding conditions, ensuring a fantastic experience for all. To keep everyone fueled for the day, we provided a complimentary lunch at the Tannery Bar and Restaurant, where employees got to warm up, enjoy a delicious meal, and share stories from the slopes. It was the perfect opportunity to relax, recharge, and bond with colleagues in a casual and scenic setting. This event continues to be a wonderful way to bring our Auto Group team together outside of the workplace, strengthening our connections and building lasting memories. Whether carving through fresh powder or simply enjoying the mountain atmosphere, everyone left with smiles on their faces and excitement for next year’s trip. A huge thank you to all who participated and helped make this event such a success. We look forward to keeping this tradition alive and can’t wait to hit the slopes again next year! See you on the mountain in 2026!

On Saturday, February 22nd, Steet Toyota of Yorkville welcomed a big crowd for a truly special event with Freedom Guide Dogs, a nonprofit organization dedicated to training guide dogs for individuals who are blind, disabled, or Veterans. Visitors had the unique opportunity to meet the organization’s newest litter of puppies—future guide dogs in training—while enjoying an afternoon filled with smiles, snuggles, and community spirit! Adding to the excitement, we were honored to host Danelle Umstead, a Toyota-sponsored U.S. Paralympic Women’s Alpine Ski Racer and three-time Paralympic Bronze Medalist. Danelle, who is visually impaired, relies on her guide dog, Otto—currently being trained by Freedom Guide Dogs locally in Utica, NY. She graciously spent the afternoon meeting fans, signing autographs, and taking photos, making this event even more unforgettable. Of course, what’s an event without some fun giveaways? Toyota provided awesome prizes, including stuffed dogs, blankets, hand warmers, coolers, sunglasses, and even some special treats for fellow skiers! Guests also enjoyed cookies, popcorn, and refreshments while spending quality time with Danelle, Otto, and the adorable puppies. It was an afternoon filled with warmth, inspiration, and community connection. Seeing so many people come out to support a wonderful cause while enjoying time with these future guide dogs was truly heartwarming. Thank you to everyone who joined us for an amazing event! Did you attend? Share your favorite moments in the comments below! 🐶🏅❄️

February 7, 2025, marks a significant milestone for Steet Toyota of Yorkville—our 30th Anniversary in business! For three decades, we have been proud to serve the Mohawk Valley and beyond, delivering quality Toyota vehicles and exceptional service to our valued customers. To commemorate this incredible achievement, we will be hosting a special anniversary luncheon for our dedicated employees, as well as our Toyota Regional Representatives from the Tri-State Area. This celebration is not just about looking back on our success but also about recognizing the amazing individuals who have made it all possible. Honoring Our Dedicated Team At Steet Toyota, we believe that our team is the heart of our business. During our anniversary celebration, we will be recognizing employees who have been with us for over 10 years, over 15 years, and two extraordinary individuals who have been part of the Steet Toyota family since our founding in 1995! Their dedication and hard work have played a vital role in shaping our dealership into what it is today. A Legacy of Excellence Since opening our doors in 1995, we have built a reputation for integrity, customer satisfaction, and community involvement. Whether it's helping a first-time car buyer find their perfect vehicle or supporting local charities and events, Steet Toyota has remained committed to making a difference. As we celebrate this milestone, we want to extend our deepest gratitude to our employees, customers, and the entire Yorkville community. Your trust and support have allowed us to grow and thrive, and we look forward to serving you for many more years to come. Looking Ahead While we reflect on the past 30 years with pride, we are also excited about the future! With advancements in automotive technology, a continued commitment to exceptional service, and the same family values that have guided us from the start, we are ready for the next chapter in Steet Toyota's story. Thank you for being part of our journey. Here's to 30 years of excellence—and many more to come! #SteetToyota30Years #ThankYouYorkville #ToyotaFamily

Exciting news, Yorkville! 🐶🚗✨ Steet Toyota of Yorkville is thrilled to partner with Freedom Guide Dogs for an unforgettable event on Saturday, February 22nd, from 1-4 PM at our dealership! Freedom Guide Dogs, an incredible organization dedicated to training guide dogs for individuals who are legally blind, have special needs, or are Veterans, will be bringing in their newest litter of future guide dogs for a special meet-and-greet! These adorable puppies are on their way to changing lives, and you’ll get the chance to meet them up close. But that’s not all… 🏅 We are honored to welcome U.S. Paralympic Medalist and Toyota-sponsored Women’s Downhill Skier, Danelle Umstead! As an accomplished athlete who is blind, Danelle is currently working with Freedom Guide Dogs to train her newest guide dog. She’ll be at Steet Toyota for a meet & greet and photo opportunities —a rare chance to connect with a true champion! 🎉 Enjoy a fun-filled afternoon with: ✅ Meet & Greet with Danelle Umstead ✅ Puppy Cuddles with Future Guide Dogs ✅ Popcorn & Refreshments ✅ Exciting Toyota Prizes & Giveaways Whether you’re an animal lover, an avid skier, or just looking for a fun event with the family, you won’t want to miss this! Mark your calendar and join us at Steet Toyota of Yorkville for an inspiring afternoon. 📍 Where: Steet Toyota of Yorkville, 4991 Commercial Drive, Yorkville, NY 📅 When: Saturday, February 22nd, 1-4 PM Spread the word and tag a friend who needs some puppy love in their life! 🐾 See you there! #SteetToyota #FreedomGuideDogs #PuppyLove #DanelleUmstead #Toyota #Paralympics #YorkvilleEvents

As the holiday season winds down and we welcome the new year, we want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who participated in and contributed to our holiday events and donation drives. Your generosity, spirit, and dedication to community made this season truly special. Reflecting on the Joy and Impact This past holiday season, we set out to make a meaningful difference in our community by organizing several events and drives. Thanks to your support, our efforts exceeded expectations. Here’s what we accomplished together: Donation Drives School Supplies Drive: With your help, we provided backpacks, notebooks, and essential tools to ensure that students in our community could start the new year ready to succeed. Your contributions put smiles on countless young faces to kids in 19 local elementary schools including Utica, Rome, Herkimer, CVA, Frankfort, Amsterdam and Gloversville Elementary Schools! Coat Drive: Winter can be harsh, but thanks to your kindness, many individuals and families now have warm coats to protect them against the cold. Every coat you donated was a gesture of care that truly mattered to the kids in the Utica and Rome elementary schools. We broke a record and were able to donate 1,017 items of winter outerwear including new coats, snow pants, hats, gloves, scarves, mittens and snow boots. Food Drive: During a time when no one should go hungry, your generosity provided meals for families in need. The outpouring of support filled not only pantries but also hearts to those who utilize the Thea Bowman House Food Pantry in Utica, NY. Holiday Gift Drive: From toys and books to clothing and gift cards, you helped ensure that children in our community experienced the magic of the holidays. Your donations transformed wishes into reality for the families in the Adopt-a-Family program through ICAN with over 500 gifts, 69 rolls of wrapping paper and 30 rolls of tape! Holiday Events Halloween Trunk or Treat: Thank you to all the creative minds who decorated trunks, dressed up, and brought Halloween cheer to life! Seeing children and families enjoy a safe, fun celebration of community was unforgettable. Lights Around the Park Light Show: Held at the Kirkland Town Park and hosted by the Clinton Fire Department. This drive through light show went around the entire park, with over 30 different light displays, and was held every weekend from 11/29-12/29. On Sundays, Santa and Mrs. Claus even greeted each car with candy canes for those driving through! New Hartford Fire Department's Believe Christmas Festival & Parade: We participated in the 3rd Annual Believe Christmas Festival hosted by the New Hartford NY Fire Department with our festively light wrapped Toyota Tacoma leading Santa, and a fun day of shopping in the village green with vendors, food trucks, and music. Together, We Made a Difference Through your contributions and involvement, you didn’t just donate or attend an event—you became part of something bigger. You helped build a stronger, more connected, and compassionate community. The ripple effect of your kindness will be felt far beyond the holiday season. Each meal shared, coat donated, and moment of joy created reminded us all of the power of coming together. Looking Ahead As we move into the new year, we carry with us the warmth and generosity you shared this past season. We’re excited to continue working with such an incredible community and invite you to join us in future initiatives to make a difference. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Let’s keep the spirit of giving and togetherness alive all year long. Happy New Year! From all of us at Steet Toyota of Yorkville

Steet Toyota of Yorkville is proud to support the Clinton Fire Department’s 2nd Annual Lights Around the Park Light Show at the Kirkland Town Park!! This is a fun, family-friendly event that is one of a kind for our area. The show is held every weekend from Friday, 11/29 until Sunday, 12/29, 2024 from 6-9pm and is $10/car! On Sundays, Santa and Mrs. Clause themselves pass out candy canes during the show! The light show is a drive through light show, so you can stay warm in your vehicle, while listening to Christmas music by tuning into 93.9 FM! We have a fun display from the Steet Ponte Auto Group, and hope to see you there!

Our 17th Annual Holiday Gift Drive is going on NOW until Monday, December 16th at all of the stores in the Steet Ponte Auto Group! This year, we are adopting families in the Adopt-A-Family program with ICAN. ICAN is a non-profit organization that service Utica and Herkimer, all throughout Oneida and Herkimer Counties to help provide services to families in need. Each store in our Auto Group has tags on the Christmas Trees in our showrooms. It’s easy to participate! Simply take a tag from our tree, and return the unwrapped gift with the tag attached back to our tree by the 16th. The front of the tag has the gift or wish list item, and the back of the tag has the child’s name, age, and any relevant information like favorite colors, favorite characters, clothing sizes if applicable. We hope that you can help us spread joy for families in need to help provide a wonderful Christmas season for everyone! Gifts range from hair ties to toys, to gift cards, so there is something for everyone. We are also accepting donations of wrapping paper and tape as well!

Our 12th Annual Thanksgiving Food Drive was quite the success again this year! Throughout our 8 dealerships, we donated to the Thea Bowman House in Utica, NY, Catholic Charities of Herkimer County, and the Amen Place Soup Kitchen in Amsterdam, NY! Our Food Drive was held from November 1st-November 25th, 2024. We collected non-perishable food items for the food pantries to help during their Thanksgiving meal preparations, and beyond. Together, we collected 8 vehicles of non-perishable items, filling the entire basement at the Thea Bowman House! Additionally, Steet Toyota of Johnstown was able to donated an extra $1,000 to the Amen Place Soup Kitchen along with their donations. We spent the morning loading all of our donations into the vehicles to bring over to each location, and then helped sort the items for the food pantries. The first year this Food Drive started, we filled one vehicle total with donations, and now we are up to one vehicle per store! We are so thankful for our community, employees, and customers who helped us succeed this year. Whether you brought in one item or 20, we are so happy to have provided a great Thanksgiving to those in need in our Utica, Herkimer, and Amsterdam communities.

On Saturday, November 23rd, 2024, Steet Toyota proudly participated in the New Hartford Fire Department’s 3rd Annual Believe Festival and Christmas Parade! This fun event is hosted by the New Hartford Fire Department, and is kicked off by a parade with Santa Clause, the New Hartford Marching Spartans, and participation from a few local Fire Departments! Steet Toyota drove a Christmas light wrapped 2024 Toyota Tacoma in the parade, and we had a great time doing so! Following the parade, the New Hartford Village Green hosts the Festival portion, with holiday vendors, food trucks, and even Christmas Carolers! We love attending and being able to help local events like this continue to succeed and stay in our area, and look forward to next year!

It’s our 7th Annual Coats for Kids Coat drive and we need YOUR help to beat our numbers from last year! In 2023, we donated 975 articles of winter outerwear including kid’s winter coats, snow pants, hats, gloves, scarves and snow boots! This Coat Drive started 7 years ago, when Joe Steet Sr. and his wife were driving through Utica, NY one morning and saw a few elementary aged kids waiting for the bus without winter coats. We immediately got to work sourcing kid’s winter coats for what we decided to call "Coats for Kids." This was back in mid-November and we gave it 2 weeks. We donated about 200 or so coats that year to Utica and Rome Elementary Schools. Since then, we've worked some bugs out. We start the Coat Drive on October 1st, to go until November 1st, so we can get the coats to students before the super cold weather hits. Our Chevy store in Herkimer and Toyota store in Johnstown also jumped on board to donate to their local schools. We also opened it up to all forms of winter outerwear, knowing that coats can be expensive, but donating a hat or pair of gloves is a bit more reasonable! Last year, we donated 975 articles of winter clothing to kids in Utica, Rome, Herkimer, CVA, and Fulton County schools. 375 of those were coats, along with hundreds of hats, mittens, scarves, and even a good amount of snow pants and snow boots! If you can, please join us this year and donate a kid's winter coat or any form of winter outwear in any kid's sizes starting at 5T! Donations can be dropped off to any of our showrooms during normal business hours, or you can even ship them to our stores. Our Yorkville stores are donating to Utica and Rome Elementary Schools, our Chevy store is donating to Herkimer & CVA, and Steet Toyota of Johnstown is donating to Broadalbin-Perth & Amsterdam elementary schools. Thank you for your continued support and helping to keep our kids warm during the cold Central New York winter months!

Toyota Yorkville is excited to announce our 1st Annual Trunk or Treat Event this Halloween season! Join us on Wednesday, October 24th at 6:00 PM for a night of family-friendly fun, creative costumes, and plenty of treats. This is a free community event that promises a memorable evening for everyone, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you! What to Expect at the Event Get ready for a spooktacular time! We’ll have 15 creatively decorated vehicles, each offering candy and special treats for the little ones. Whether your child has allergies or sensory sensitivities, we’ve got you covered with allergy-friendly and sensory-friendly options, ensuring everyone can join in the Halloween fun without worry. Be sure to arrive early—the first 50 attendees will receive a free pumpkin, courtesy of one of our very own Technicians whose family operates a local farm. It’s the perfect way to kick off your Halloween night and take home a little seasonal charm! Special Guests and Surprises In addition to trunk-or-treating, we’re thrilled to welcome members of the New Hartford Fire Department and Police Department as our special guests. They’ll be stopping by to meet families, add to the excitement, and show their support for the local community. It's a wonderful opportunity for kids to meet their local heroes while enjoying a fun-filled evening. Toyota Yorkville: More Than Just Cars At Toyota Yorkville, we’re more than just a dealership—we’re proud to be part of the community, and this event is all about bringing neighbors together. Whether you’re here for the Trunk or Treat festivities or looking for your next vehicle, we’re committed to providing top-notch service and an exceptional selection of new and used Toyotas. Feel free to explore our inventory here and discover the perfect vehicle for your family. We’re always here to help! Don’t Miss Out on the Fun! This is an event you won’t want to miss! With exciting Halloween-themed activities, special treats, and plenty of community spirit, Toyota Yorkville’s 1st Annual Trunk or Treat is sure to become a Halloween tradition. Bring your family, friends, and neighbors for a night to remember, and let’s celebrate the season together! We look forward to seeing you there!

At Steet Toyota of Yorkville, community involvement is a key part of our mission. On August 15th, we were proud to sponsor and participate in the 24th Annual Lupus Charity Golf Classic, hosted at the Shenandoah Golf Club at Turning Stone Resort Casino. This important event supports the Lupus & Allied Diseases Association, raising awareness and funds for those affected by lupus and related diseases. Toyota Yorkville's Team on the Course Our Steet Toyota of Yorkville team was well-represented at the event, with John Dunn (F&I Manager), Greg Wrate (General Manager), Jason Coleman, and Jerry Reginelli (Sales & Leasing Consultants) stepping up to participate. In the photo from left to right, you can see the team enjoying a day of golf and camaraderie, showing our continued commitment to supporting local causes. A Special Moment with the Lupus & Allied Diseases Association In addition to participating in the tournament, we were honored to connect with Kathleen Arntsen, President & CEO of the Lupus & Allied Diseases Association. In the second photo, John Dunn, Greg Wrate, and Jerry Reginelli stand proudly alongside Kathleen, commemorating the event and reinforcing the connection between Toyota Yorkville and this vital cause. Continuing Our Commitment to the Community Sponsoring and participating in events like the Lupus Charity Golf Classic is just one way Steet Toyota of Yorkville demonstrates its commitment to giving back. We are proud to support local organizations that make a difference, and we look forward to continuing these efforts in the future.